billow

2015 study in collaboration with Andrew Chiu + Car Martin.

summary/ The contemporary Sukkha, ‘Billow’ is an expression of vertical illuminated lines of natural spun cotton supported by a framed pine plywood structure. ‘Clouds’ of natural unspun cotton fibres are suspended from the strings and appear to float through the structure. The materials are left raw and natural to celebrate minute variations in colour and highlight the interplay with sunshine and shade. Moments where the materials join are designed to express the process of making, showing evidence of the hand of the builder. The interior space and walls all follow a simple, clear logic, allowing the visitor to focus their attention on the transcendent quality of the light through the clouds.

The cotton clouds further recall the story of the ‘Clouds of Glory’ wherein the clouds acted as protection for Jewish encampments, creating a space of temperate weather and even ground in an otherwise inhospitable climate.

Billow is built of ordinary and readily accessible materials, giving the visitor a sense of familiarity and security. Both the colour and the geometry of the structure recall the calm, contemplative geography of a desert landscape; it is both protective and gentle while enlivening the sky with lines of light.
The sukkha is not meant to awe, but to focus one’s attention on the simple, essential beauty accessible to all humans who dwell on this planet.